Officials: Convicted Killer, 15, A Victim Of Corrupt Upbringing

Cara McIntosh`s home life was so bad that in 1980 the state office of Health and Rehabilitative Services considered having the then-9-year-old girl removed from her home.

This same home life -- in which her mother began giving her drugs at age 7 -- led to her involvement in the murder of her grandfather, a judge and a probation officer said Tuesday.

``This reads like a Greek tragedy that inexorably moves to its ultimate conclusion,`` said Broward Circuit Judge Mel Grossman. ``The young lady was born into circumstances and a family that not only failed her but doomed her -- the circumstances and, more particularly, her parents molded and fashioned her character and personality in such a way that we today confront this particular young woman who has been found guilty.``

From May 1979 to October 1982, McIntosh was referred to HRS six times for emotional abuse, neglect and truancy. Both of McIntosh`s parents had criminal records and were involved with drugs, according to a pre-sentencing report filed with Broward Circuit Court on Tuesday.

``There was a time when we were considering removing her`` from her family, said Sue Slupe, a caseworker with HRS`s Division of Children and Youth Services. ``At that time it went to court and Cara said she really wanted to stay with her mom, and Mom wanted Cara to stay with her.``

Slupe and John Stokesberry, District 10 administrator for HRS, said the McIntosh case did not appear to be unusual.

``There was no indication at the time that anything like this would happen. When I read this in the paper, I was absolutely shocked,`` Slupe said.

Said Stokesberry, ``We don`t have the physical capability to house and supervise all these children. To pick out the one who will kill his grandfather or kill a drug dealer is like picking a needle in a haystack.``

On Nov. 21, a jury found McIntosh, 15, of Pompano Beach, guilty of first- degree murder in the death of her grandfather, Emmett Richardson, 71, and was sentenced to life in prison without possibility of parole for 25 years. She was also found guilty of kidnapping and robbery in the crime, in which Richardson was bound and gagged, and eventually suffocated. His pool hall was robbed of $260, and cocaine was bought with the money.

Cara`s mother, Paulette McIntosh, and a friend, Dean Dameron, have been charged with the same crime and are scheduled to be tried Feb. 16.

On Tuesday, McIntosh was sentenced to seven years in jail for kidnapping, the term to run concurrently with the life sentence. The court withheld sentencing on the robbery charge.

The teen-ager, wearing a light pink dress with her brown hair pulled back, said as she was escorted from the courtroom back to jail, ``It`s true that I was neglected. I was addicted to drugs.``

Officials agreed.

``This officer firmly believes that this (the girl`s plight) has been a direct result of a classic example of bad parenting,`` wrote Probation Officer Randall Biehl, in a report to the court.

Dr. Abbey Strauss, a psychiatrist, wrote the court, ``Pschologically, Cara suffers a broad range of psychological scarring. ... She cannot make sense out of her life because of a massive distortion in her upbringing.``

Little of the evidence about McIntosh`s upbringing was allowed as evidence during the jury trial.